but i am curious to see if this buzz feed story leads to any more stories. we'll see if there is anything else. >> is there a state of the union? >> no. he'll give some sort of speech. >>'s it tonight for "kasie d.c." back next week from 7:00 to 9:00. i'm peter alexander. good night from washington. in my younger days i got arrested and went to jail 40 times. i've season been in congress another five times and i may get arrested and go to jail again. >> he's an icon of the civil rights movement. >> they found the power of the human spirit in john lewis. and he came to symbolize the student movement. >> he believed that he could help a country find its soul. >> risking death to fight for

what's right. >> i did not think john would survive. >> fifty years later he's still challenging power. >> i don't see this president elect as a legitimate president. >> he likes to stir things up. he likes a little drama. >> let us vote. let us vote. >> john lewis not about popularity. he's about purpose. >> his commitment through the years paved the way for a new generation. >> barack obama does not become president of the united states without a john lewis. >> he led them on a mission to change america. >> a country will never ever be the same because of what happened on this bridge.

when activists turned out to protest the trump administration separation of migrate children from their parents in june 2018. congressman john lewis was there. i'm sick and tired. sick and tired of what happened to our children. to our babies. been taken from their mothers. from their fathers. separated. it's painful. it is a violation of human right. and none of us who live on this little piece of real estate we call america can be happy or satisfied. have to do something. so we are prepared to take some action here and now. let's do it. >> you feel like you have been placed there for a reason. you have to disturb the order of things. >> one expression that he uses that i love. he says we have to make good

trouble. >> lewis first came up with the phrase as chide in pike county al. >> i didn't like administration. i didn't like the science that said white waiting. colored waiting. white men. considered men. i would come home and ask my mother, my father, my grandparents why? they would say that's the way it is boy. don't get in the way. don't get into trouble. >> born into sharecroppers. he was one of the 10 siblings growing up in the fields of cotton country. as a teenager he was inspired by the montgomery bus boycott and the sermons of the dr. martin luther king jr. on the radio. >> as long as you sit in the back you have a false sense of inferiority and as long as you let the white men in the front and push you back there he has a

false sense of superiority. >> lewis challenged segregation laws in his own town at 18. >> went down to the public library. troy, al. trying to get a library card. trying to check out sot books. we were told by the librarian that the library was for whites only and not for colors. and that sent me on a path. >> lewis believed that path would lead him to become a preacher like king. he received a work study scholarship to american baptist theological seminary in nashville. and arrived in 1957. >> john has always had a genuine smile. even a kind of boyishness about him that has made him charming. >> he was a person who was easy to talk to. and was always interested in social issues. >> lewis wanted to join the students beginning to integrate schools across the south. his target all white troy state

university. just 10 miles from his home in alabama. he wrote to dr. king for help. king's deputy sent him a bus ticket to visit montgomery in the spring of 1958 when he was just 18 years old. >> he said are you the boy from troy? are you john lewis? and i said dr. king, i am john robert lewis i gave my whole name. but he still called me the boy from troy. >> dr. king told the boy from troy he'd need his parents permission to take on troy state. but they were afraid of the consequences and refused. as lewis returned to nashville he was determined to do something. and then he met the second role model to change his life. >> he came to nashville and enrolled as a student in vanderbilt university divinity school. >> this unbelievable young man

told us the philosophy and discipline. and he kept saying respect and dignity and worth every human being. even if someone beat you. throw you in jail. the look them in the eye. and respect them. lawson's group began sit-ins at lunch counters in downtown nashville in early 1960. lewis and the other students filled the counters. tried to order food and then took whatever abuse was hurdle hurled at them. and the 20-year-old lewis was arrested for the first time in february 18960 his parent were shocked. >> lot of people of color were afraid of what could happen. he could die. they could lose the land or any number of consequences. >> but he and a number of students continued their sit-ins, and after months of protests the politicians and business leaders in nashville agreed to desegregate lunch counters in may 1960. >> we all applauded. and here was a situation that

turned out right. >> well w that success, john lewis was even more inspired to take on jim crowe lows that segregated people by race and denied basic rights to african americans. >> there were many meetings when he would come into the meeting with bandages on his head. he had been in demonstrations and had been beaten. he was determined though. he never let that stop him. i think you would have had to literally have killed him to have stopped him. coming up. >> john lewis would put himself on the line, without question. . (burke) parking splat. and we covered it.

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satisfied or go along with this system. >> fresh from student sittin's in nashville, john lewis found a new way to contribute in 1961. a group put out a call for black and white volunteers to ride buses headed into the jim crowe south. traveling together would surely put them all in danger. >> they both applied. john was accepted because he was 21. i asked my father if i could go. he said do you think i'm going sign your death warrant? >> despite the warning lewis went ahead as one of the original group of 13 freedom riders. they set out from washington d.c. in may 1961 and were soon met by violence. lewis and another man were viciously beat in in rock hill south carolina. a few days later a group of riders was attacked in

birmingham. another was fire bombed in aniston, alabama. core canceled the freedom rides. they were just too dangerous. lewis and the other nashville students disagreed with the decision. >> it was right at the heart of what they had been talking about in their workshops. we can't let violence stop the movement. we've got to be willing to make whatever sacrifice it takes. >> the nashville students decided to continue the ride themselves. if the adults wouldn't ride t students still would. >> i remember several conversations with the department of justice and they told me i just didn't understand that somebody would get killed. and i said i understand and all of them understand as well. several of the students who were about to get on the bus gave me sealed envelopes. that i was to mail in the event of their death.

>> they knew how dangerous it was. but they were not afraid. they came prepared to face down the dangers with the power of their souls. >> despite the violence, john lewis got back on a bus to al as one of the new group of student freedom riders. >> they're supposed to have ahead protection, federal protection. but when we got to montgomery, they disappeared. and we were left in the hands of a mob. i mean it was terrible. that's when john lewis was beaten. and others too. >> the riders kept going. this time with federal guards. eventually they made it to the dark heart of the south. jackson, mississippi. there, lewis and the others were arrested for breech of the peace. and sent to mississippi's infamous partchman prison.

>> it really was like going back into the antebellum plantation. it was a rough experience. >> more students continue to join the freedom rides and by the end of the summer hundreds of those riders filled partchman and other mississippi jails. >> bonded them. they said we went in there a hundred little movements on campuses and came out one big movement and we knew each other. >> people should expect to get beaten. they should expect to go to jail. >> the student non violent coordinating committee was made. when the group's chairman resigned in the soumpl 1963 the organization turned to john lewis. with his country accent and lack of formal education, some saw him as an unlikely choice. >> they needed a chairman who had fought who had bled who had been to jail. who had suffered through every

indignity they were asking the people in the field to suffer through. >> they found the power of the human spirit. in john lewis. and he came to symbolize the student movement. >> almost immediately lewis was tapped to represent them at the march on washington. at 23 he would be the youngest speaker at the event. but when people in the kennedy organization and more senior civil rights leaders read his planned speech they said it was too militant. >> i said a day may come we'll not march on washington but we'll be forced to march through the south the way sherman did. non violently. >> the image of students as shermans scared the bejesus out of people. so they threatened to pull the plug. and catholic cardinals said i'm not going introduce it if they are going to say something like this. >> dr. king came to me and said

for the sake of unity can we make these changes? and i couldn't say no to dr. king and we made the changes. >> let's not forget we're involved in an era of social revolution. >> even with the compromises john lewis's speech on april 28, 1963 was fierce, though you have a forgotten in the shadow of dr. king's dream. >> we don't want our freedom gradually, but we want to be free now. >> in the years after the march on washington, lewis and snick concentrated on registering black voters. >> the idea is we got more people participating in government and bringing about changes, if we got more people registered to vote so they could practice their fundamental rights. >> in mississippi during the summer of 1964, the students tried to register voters, with violent repercussions. and in selma, alabama nick

volunteerers are set up a voter drive. >> came down make a mockery out of courthouse. we're not going to have it. >> in spring 1965 residents turned to dr. king for help. >> we are tired of having registrars refusing to register us and allow us to vote. >> sncc did a lot of work but when martin luther king came and the media game, it was described as martin luther king's work. >> there was always this tendency to want to challenge dr. king's leadership. and john didn't share that. john wanted to change the world. and he wasn't thinking about credit. >> martin luther king was his hero and his example and model. >> i think they shared a total commitment. there was no moral compromise.

they were fearless. >> when king's group organized a protest march from selma to montgomery in march 1965, sncc refused to join. but john lewis chose to march anyway at the front of the line. >> we're marching today to dramatize to the nation and hundreds of thousands of negro citizens of alabama denied the right to vote. >> his nknapsack had an apple ad toothbrush. he was ready to go to jail as he had so often before but he was also prepared for worse. >> he was always available to reach death and i don't think it was he wanted to die. it was the basis of his leadership was showing a fearlessness that encouraged others. >> when the marchers crossed the bridge out of town, a linebacker of state troopers confronted

them. >> you are ordered to disperse, go home or go to your church. >> they refused to turn back. the violence was broadcast on national television. >> america's conscience was seared by what they saw that day. i think it was a transformational moment in american history. because i think that's when the american people said enough's enough. two weeks later the group set out again. then joined by thousands of americans, from all over the country inspired by the cause. president lyndon johnson used the public outrage to motivate his proposal of a voting rights act. in a speech to congress on march 15th. >> what happened in selma is part of a far larger movement which reaches into every section and state of america.

>> only time i saw martin luther king shed a tear. and i wasn't with john, but i bet you he cried too. >> their cause must be our cause too. >> was when lyndon johnson closed his speech with "we shall over come". >> and we hall overcome. >> coming up. >> lose two people lose two peoe to make you everybody else... ♪ ♪ means to fight the hardest battle, which any human being can fight and never stop. does this sound dismal? it isn't. ♪ ♪ it's the most wonderful life on earth. ♪ ♪

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we'll use the energies and resources of our organization to implement the voting bill. >> the violence against marchers at the bridge in selma in 1965 helped convince congress to pass the voting rights act. and it secured john lewis' reputation as an icon of the civil rights movement but that march also signalled a breech between lewis and his group t student non violent coordinating committee. >> i felt at the time that the

organization and maybe even the movement was moving in a different direction. >> 14 months after the selma march, a mathiore militant fact ousted lewis as chairman and soon began calling for different tactics. >> violence is a part of the american culture. it is as american as cherry pie. >> the movement went against everything lewis believed. >> we'd been preaching a philosophy and the discipline of non violence. preaching the sense of dealing what we called the beloved community. that we're one people. that we're one family. >> after 40 arrests and countless beats in the name of the civil rights movement, john lewis left the group he helped to create. but he continued his work in community organizing and voter registration. >> just because he had this disagreement with an organization, it doesn't mean he had to abandon the ideal of the movement. >> he recognized the problem in america of racism and denial and

unjust treatment that he wanted to get the problem solved. >> working in the south. 27-year-old john lewis was introduced to the woman who would become his wife. lillian miles. >> i said to myself, this young lady is really hip. and i start talking with her. >> she read everything about john's background and respected him tremendously. >> she was wonderful, beautiful, charming and she taught me a great deal. >> within a year the couple was married. lewis also began a new work assignment in 1968 traveling for robert kennedy's presidential campaign. >> i got to know robert kennedy when he was attorney general. i admired him. and i thought he would be a great president. >> lewis took over the recruitment of black voters for the campaign in several states. >> it was a big deal for robert kennedy and it was a big deal

for john lewis. it marked his transition to politics. >> lewis was at a rally with kennedy on the day his idol dr. martin luther king jr. was shot. >> martin luther king was shot and was killed tonight. >> just two months later the nation still reeling from king's death, kennedy won the california primary. lewis was in the kennedy's hotel suite waiting while he gave his victory speech. >> it is on to chicago and let's win there. >> next thing it was announced on television that he had been shot. >> is there a doctor in the house? >> and we saw the scene. laying on the floor. we all just broke down and just cried, really. >> the two assassinations.

tragedies for the nation. as well as personal losses for john lewis helped set his future course. >> to lose people that i admired and loved was almost too much. and later i just said some of us will speak up for dr. king and robert --. so if it hadn't been for this i'm not so sure i would have got involved in american politics. >> lewis plotted his entry into politics as he continued his voter registration work in the 1970s. >> it is no longer the drama of in the streets. it is in washington. it is in city hall. the state capitals around the south and around this country. >> he ran for the fifth congressional district in atlanta in 1977 and lost. he went on to serve on the council but continued to eye the fifth district. >> right now the highest

possibility for black elected official that would like to move up. >> the seat opened again in 1986 but there was another sncc veteran running. julian bond who marchand alongside lewis and at the time served in the georgia state legislature. >> they were inseparable and collaborated virtually on everything for more than 20 years. >> after a crowded primary the vote came down to a runoff between the two zblends the race was on. >> the race was on. each of these men wanted the seat badly and they were willing to go out. >> the runoff involved not just lewis and bond but black atlanta and veterans of the civil rights movement who knew them both. >> practically every prominent african american leader in the metropolitan atlanta area was supporting julian bond. john wasn't phased by it. he was determined to outwork

julian. >> he was all over the place. and i think julian kind of thought that he had it made. >> bond challenged lewis to a series of television and radio debates. >> the real issue is which of the two us, would make the better legislature. >> jewel season so smart, so gifted. spoke so well. and i think he thought that he would -- >> john was a man who expressed what he believed. he never put on airs. he never pretended. he never tried to please other people. >> if you know anything about me, that i'm not up for sale. my vote cannot be bought. >> as the debates continued. lewis' team encouraged him to raise an issue from the earlier primary when another candidate challenged everyone to take a drug test, bond had refused. >> campaign advisors, myself included had been urging john to issue that challenge to julian.

john resisted. and then julian made some comment that john had abandoned the voter of the city. >> you know if it walks like a duck, it acts like a duck, it quacks like a duck, it must be a duck. >> i said well mr. bond. i think you are the one doing the ducking. i challenge mr. bond to take a drug test. >> that's okay, john. that's all right. >> the challenge rocked bond's campaign. and three days later, john lewis won the runoff by four points. >> and i want to thank those folks, those good people who had the courage, the raw courage to change their votes in a runoff and vote for me. >> the sense of shock and absolute surprise in atlanta the night that john lewis won that seat is unlike anything i have ever seen. i mean people were stunned.

>> for the two friends the damage was done. >> it was hurtful to him. i think he was hurt by the way that john presented those issues. >> their friendship was the price they paid. >> there's been a real strain put on the relationship between tw two of us. but, you know, time is a great healer and i'm sure in time the wounds will heal. >> later he became very supportive and our friendship was mended. but he was a good friend. if i had to do it over again, i wouldn't do it. >> people dieing for the right to vote. friend of mine. colleagues of mine. vote. friend of mine colleagues of mine there goes our first big order. ♪ 44, 45, 46... how many of these did they order? ooh, that's hot. ♪ you know, we could sell these. nah. ♪ we don't bake.

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protection for some migrates some immigrants to the senate floor tuesday. and a weekend that following the weekend storm that brought ice and snow to the east. dangerously icy conditions are expected ads temperatures plumt. back to "headliners," john lewis.plummet. back to "headliners," john lewis. we not on the outside now. we're legislators. we are politicians trying to use government as an instrument, as a tool to bring about change. >> after a hard fought campaign john lewis began his freshman term in congress in january 1987. the 46-year-old was already known for his history in the civil rights movement and wanted to use that influence to become effective in washington. one of his first initiatives was a national museum of african american history. >> he realized here is a history

that is crucial to understanding who we are as americans but it is a history that's undervalued, undertaught and there is not a place to revel in and understand that history. >> lewis first introduced his bill in 1988 and then again year after year. >> he's not daunted by the long shot causes. if he thinks it is right he's going stick with it. >> more than a decade later lewis gained an unexpected ally. kansas senator sam brownback. >> i was praying at st. joseph's church and i got this idea we should have an museum. an african american museum of history and culture. john lewis tried for a dozen years and could get through one house but not the other. >> brownback, one of more conservative members of the senate wasware of lewis' history. >> i had a public impression of him. which was fiery.

but when i met him in person i found a thoughtful, enjoyable gentlemen that had done a great deal for the country. had a great passion. >> you have people that might not agree on some day to day issues. but they find common purpose. >> the bill to create the museum passed and was signed into law by president george w. bush in 2003, 15 years after john lewis first proposed it. it took another 13 years for the building to be finished. the museum opened on the mall in washington in 2016. >> some who said it couldn't happen. who said you can't do. but we did it. we did it. >> through the years lewis established himself as a force in washington. a member of the influential ways and means committee. a department whip for the democratic party and as a leader of the congressional black

caucus. >> i'm going chamg my vote and i'm going vote for the road. >> but his personal life remained in atlanta with his life lillian. the separation wasn't easy. >> lillian didn't like it. and complained a lot about it. and then she finally realized that he was wed to that war. >> lewis travel to atlanta weekly to see lillian and their son john liles. >> john liles looked forward to seeing him come home for the weekends. they would do things together. >> the couple made the long distance arrangement work for decades until lillian's death in 2012. atlanta was vital to john lewis, not just as his home but as his political base. >> anything we need from washington he's got enough friends to get for us. >> lewis built relationships with colleagues across the political spectrum by leading

congressional trips to selma and other sights of the civil rights movement. through the faith and politics institute he traveled with more than 300 politicians over the years. >> we were going to the lunch counters and marching. >> i think he's one of the few in congress that can bring people from many different parties together and say let's spend three days wrestling with the past. only john could do that. >> lewis built on the relationships to support his chosen projects. >> he tries to use the influence that he has, the respect that he commands to advance the causes that he thinks are important. and that i think are really all about fairness, justice and equality. >> and no cause was more important to him than voting rights. >> i happen to believe that the vote is precious. it is almost sacred. it is the most powerful non violent instrument or tool that we have in a democratic society. >> there is the history there with him. in terms of ensuring that '65

voting rights act becomes law. and then later life protecting the gains that were won during the civil right movement. >> many of those gains lewis helped win for wiped out in 2013 when a stunning decision by supreme court reversed decades of federal protection for voters in the south. >> to think what the court did today is stab the voting right acts of 1965 in its very heart. >> after what i think is probably one of the worst supreme court decisions for the last fifty years he sprung into action. >> before the ink was even dry, states began to put into force effort to suppress people's voting rights. >> he worked towards passage of that legislation to try to put back in place the structure of the voting rights act. >> we've come too far.

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mercedes-benz. the best or nothing. i'm dealing with friends. people that i love. >> after more than 20 years in congress, john lewis faced a difficult choice in the fall of 2007. barack obama was running for president and the election of an african american to the nation's highest office would be the culmination of lewis' life work. but early on the front runner in the primary race was hillary clinton. >> the clintons were very supportive of him. when john had birthday fundraisers. president clinton would be there. >> democrats chose obama in a

primary february 2008 lewis reconsidered his position. >> it looked like it was more of a reality about to happen. i think people said well, you know, what? it's time for you do shift and kind of get on board this train. you have been on the right side of history virtually everything else. you need to be on the right side of history for this. >> the choice was painful for him but in the end gave his full support to them for the campaign. >> something is happening in america. something is unbelievable. >> i barack hussein obama do solemnly swear. >> lewis developed a strong bond with president obama. >> i can kind of tell when president obama is really

listening to somebody. >> he's known as the conscience of the united states congress. still speaking his mind on issues of justice and quality. >> despite honors like the 2010 metal of freedom, those who work with lewis says he wears his fame lightly. >> a lot of people in public life seeking to get to the front of the line immediately. not john lewis. >> humility. he didn't couple of as this grandiose figure. he comes off as a humble, decent, kind soul. >> part of what makes john humble is that he knows who he is. and he knows that he's sacrificed for greater good. so what else does he have to prove? >> although he still carries the scars of his days in the movement, lewis is willing to engage with those who hurt him. >> one of the class member who beat us came to this office. many years later. and said mr. lewis -- member of

the clan. i'm one of the people that beat you. i want to apologize. will you forgive me? his sons started crying. he started crying. and i cried with them. that is the power, the way of peace. the way of love. the power of the philosophy of --. >> he epitomizes what the non violent movement's all about. it is about soul force. the force of the human spirit. >> as a bridge between the civil rights era and a new generation, lewis found a way to share his experiences when he told his young staffers about a comic book from the movement. >> this little comic book, martin luther king jr. and the montgomery story. sold for 10 cents and people were arrested in nashville,

tennessee almost every single one of us had ascopy on us. >> i started thinking. why isn't there a john lewis comic book. i had never heard the story. i had never heard the full depth and breadth of his story. why didn't anybody tell me i as a young person had so much power. >> kept saying, congressman, you should write a comic book. i said maybe. but he wouldn't give up. and i finally said, yes, if you do it with me. >> the first part of the graphic novel called "march" came out in 2013. wearing an outfit just like he wore at the bridge in selma, lewis met his new fans at co comic-con. >> i remember going to the library trying to get library cards. and we were told that the library was for whites only and not for coloreds.

and to come here and receive this award, this honor for this. is too much. thank you. >> in another sign how far he and the nation had come. john lewis celebrated the 50th anniversary of the selma march with an freshman president, retracing those fateful steps over the ed monday pettus bridge. >> his knapsack stocked with an apple, a toothbrush and a book on government. all you need for a night behind bars. john lewis led them out of the church on a mission to change america. >> this city on the banks of the alabama river gave birth to a movement that changed this nation forever. our country will never ever be the same because of what happened on this bridge.

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that's how xfinity makes tv... simple. easy. awesome. in my younger days i got arrested and went to jail 40 times. since being in congress another five times. and i may dpet arrested and go to jail again. >> during his 30 plus years in congress, john lewis has joined protests. on immigration and apartheid. >> he'll join a march or demonstration or whatever in a minute. because that's where he got his start. and that's in his blood. >> i tell my colleagues in the congress, do something. you cannot afford to be still.

>> congresswoman katherine clark decided to do something about 49 people were killed at the pulse nightclub in orlando june 2016. she wanted to force a vote on gun control legislation. the leadership wouldn't allow it. she turned to lewis for ideas. >> john said in his quiet way. we have to do something dramatic. and then he paused and said we have to do a sit in. and when john lewis recommends that you do a sit in, the only answer is yes. anyway i can help. >> congressman lewis stepped onto the house floor on june 22. >> we're calling on the leadership of the house to bring common sense gun control legislation to the house floor. give us a vote. let us vote. >> then lewis and his group began an unprecedented sit in. to try and force a vote. >> they are not trying to actually get this done through regular order.

instead they're staging protests. trying to get on tv. >> regarding the house chamber. >> the republican leadership shut off c span. to try and block the protest access to the public. >> fortunately we had members who picked that up. with facebook live. and other social media tools. >> what made it so powerful was that there was an attempt to actually broadcast it to the nation. even when c span wasn't running it. >> lewis and his colleagues kept the protest going for 25 hours. >> i'm here today to say john lewis we join you in getting into good trouble on behalf of the american people. >> we never did get the vote. that we wanted. but i think seeing someone like john lewis saying this issue is important enough. for me to stop the business of the house of representatives.

>> john lewis taught me that sometimes you might be powerless to stop injustice. but you can never be silent. the opposite is indifference. in action. it's silent. >> we'll continue to push, to pull, to stand up. and if necessary, sit down. >> protests helped lewis connect with a new crop of younger activists. >> i think that moment for john lewis was in many ways an introduction to a new generation. >> the minute the young people remind me of what we were like. at age 18 and 19. and i tell them over and over again, whatever you do, do it in an orderly, peaceful, non-violent fashion. >> lewis reached out to the new

civil rights movement that had grown in recent years. in response to vitd video taped police violence against african americans. >> never give up. never give in. never become bitter or hostile. >> while they may not always be on the same page he has a clear respect and admiration to insert themselves into the struggle. >> when you see young people, football players, kneeling. trying to make it real. they're trying to make it lain. to wake people up. >> after the shock of donald trump election. john lewis decided he needed to wake people up. >> stunning words for president election trump from a democrat and civil rights figure. >> i don't plan to attend the inauguration. >> one of the first to actually stand up against the presidency. >> i don't see this president-elect as a legitimate

president. >> lewis was especially incensed when he nominated jeff sessions for owner general. in the 1980s, sessions prosecuted zil rights workers who were registers voters in alabama. >> i didn't think he was the person to be attorney general of the united states. to be enforcing the voting rights act. >> he felt that the country had tried to push america back the way it was when he was growing up in alabama. >> in a highly unusual move, senator cory booker asked lewis to join him in testifying against the nomination. >> it was one of the moments of my life i'm sitting next to my hero. and testifying with him. >> we need someone who can stand up. speak up. and speak out. for the people that need help. for people who have been discriminated against. >> he was confirmed.

lewis was lotted for his fortitude in testifying. >> what he did was an extraordinary thing. he understood that. but i think it was an indication of how he felt that we made substantial progress during the obama years and progress was going to be put at risk. >> john lewis is not about popularity. he's about purpose. >> 50 years after his first protest, the boy from troy remains undaunted. >> i come here to say to you don't let anybody, anybody turn you around. >> he's a person who could rest on morals. and still be a historic figure. yet in the 21st century he's as committed as he was in the 20th century. when he was a young man. >> we must wake up america. >> we have a moral obligation, mission and mandate. to say something, to do something. >> the model of john lewis is im going to put myself right in the middle of the fight for justice.

this country it's still not achieved itself the path way of progress is still under construction. you have to roll up your sleeves and continue the work. >> i'm fired up. i'm fired up. i'm ready to march! >> announcer: this is an nbc news special presentation. >> some of the images and language in the following program are graphic and might be disturbing to some viewers. while the images have been available across the internet, they have not been seen nationally in their entirety on nbc. 50 years ago, the nation lost an extraordinary leader. >> the time is always right to do right. >> reporter: a warrior for justice. >> martin luther king jr., "we ain't gonna let nobody turn us around." his fight --